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    Running desktop applications on UBTouch

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Unsolved Libertine
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      • dobeyD Offline
        dobey
        last edited by

        PS3: I installed the application in a container of my own. The system however came with a built-in (puritine) container in which several apps (such as libreoffice) are supposedly installed. But I don't know how to launch them (and even whether they can be launched at all): ubuntu-app-launch-appids does not show them at all.

        Wait, you have the built-in "puritine" container? If so, you are not running the version of Ubuntu Touch that we ship. There is no such thing provided by UBports. It sounds like you need to use the ubports-installer to reflash your device and upgrade to the current version.

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        • G Offline
          gdegrez @dobey
          last edited by

          @dobey said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

          PS3: I installed the application in a container of my own. The system however came with a built-in (puritine) container in which several apps (such as libreoffice) are supposedly installed. But I don't know how to launch them (and even whether they can be launched at all): ubuntu-app-launch-appids does not show them at all.

          Wait, you have the built-in "puritine" container? If so, you are not running the version of Ubuntu Touch that we ship. There is no such thing provided by UBports. It sounds like you need to use the ubports-installer to reflash your device and upgrade to the current version.

          I used to have the built-in 'puritine' container when I installed UBTouch a couple of years ago if I remember, and it remained there after upgrading at least until OTA-15, but it's indeed no longer there in OTA-18, there is now a built-in container called 'Desktop Applications'.
          But that's irrelevant, what matters to me is that none of the desktop apps that I tried to install in the container of my own worked 😞 [I guess because the windowing protocol used by the Desktop apps is not supported by the OS/hardware].

          BQ Aquaris M10 FHD

          dobeyD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • T Offline
            tigerpro
            last edited by

            it is possible to run desktop apps in UT, I know this because I have done it, however the experience was unusable due to the apps not responding to any input/interaction attempts through either touch or KB/M use. it is also pretty involved to setup and will not survibe any OTAs, overall if your looking to run regular linux apps on a handheld device, UT is not going to be the solution you want for that.

            Whether you think you can, or you can't, if you do not try, you will never truly know. So give it a Go.

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            • TotalSonicT Offline
              TotalSonic @gdegrez
              last edited by TotalSonic

              @gdegrez - I am able to use a few specific desktop applications successfully on my Volla, Meizu Pro 5 and OnePlus One phone running OTA-18, although using the gui's (which are not optimized for phone form factors at all) is certainly very clunky (although aided when using a bluetooth keyboard/trackpad with them - and aided more when using an external display as well, although sending to external display is not an option on Halium 9 ported phones currently).

              Apps that I have tested that have some decent functionality that native apps and webapps do not necessarily provide are:

              text editors:
              medit
              gedit
              leafpad

              word processing:
              abiword

              system information:
              hardinfo
              screenfetch (command line - run from the Terminal)

              email client:
              geary

              web browser:
              firefox-esr 78 (need to download deb of the extended support release, the 8x versions available from the default repository do not work)

              metronome (for musician's practice):
              gtick

              games:
              aisleriot
              gnome-mahjongg

              image editor / gallery:
              gthumb
              gimp

              drawing:
              mypaint

              video player:
              mpv

              pdf viewer:
              evince

              stylus-style note taking / pdf markup:
              xournal

              Also - whe the Libertine Tweak Tool app allowing you to resize the gui menus (but not all gui elements) is invaluable towards making these desktop apps more usable.
              SO - while current Libertine is far from optimal, and while a lot of apps will crash on you, or be unusable due to their gui's being so cluttered or going offscreen, at least there are a few select ones that can offer at least a little bit of additional functionality available for our UT devices.

              As for when additional development will happen to Libertine - frankly until the rebase to 20.04 happens and is given a bit of extra time beyond that to iron out bugs, it doesn't make sense for anyone to tackle Libertine, as any effort now for 16.04 might end up having to be reworked for 20.04 anyway.

              Best regards,
              Steve Berson

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              • G Offline
                gdegrez @TotalSonic
                last edited by

                @totalsonic

                Thank you very much.
                I had only tried the standard firefox, which doesn't work indeed, and Frescobaldi (music engraving), which didn't work either.
                Actually, the apps that I would be mostly interested in are a web browser allowing me to connect to my google drive, frescobaldi for music engraving, texmaker and LibreOffice.
                I understand running desktop apps on a phone is not convenient and doesn't deserve attention from the developers. The picture is different for tablets, which, with a BT KB & M, can be transformed in a mini laptop.

                I also understand that it doesn't make sense to spend time on Libertine until the new OS release based on 20.04, and that the technical difficulties are not trivial at all.
                As I said in my original post, I am just checking progress on this issue once in a while, as I really look forward to when
                " Imagine linking your mobile device to a monitor, mouse and keyboard and having it instantly transformed into a desktop experience. With Ubuntu Touch you only need one device."
                will become reality.

                BQ Aquaris M10 FHD

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                • G Offline
                  gdegrez @gdegrez
                  last edited by

                  @gdegrez said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                  Actually, the apps that I would be mostly interested in are a web browser allowing me to connect to my google drive, frescobaldi for music engraving, texmaker and LibreOffice.

                  An update:
                  firefox: couldn't find firefox-esr in the list of available debian packages
                  frescobaldi: crashes
                  libreoffice writer: crashes
                  texmaker: crashes
                  🙂

                  I guess I have to wait...

                  BQ Aquaris M10 FHD

                  TotalSonicT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • TotalSonicT Offline
                    TotalSonic @gdegrez
                    last edited by TotalSonic

                    @gdegrez - Firefox-esr packages are not available in the default Libertine repositories. In order to install it you need to download the appropriate deb (armhf for older 32bit devices, arm64 for more recent 64bit devices, and then scroll to the bottom of the linked pages to choose the deb for the version in your preferred language) , place it into your Downloads folder, and then open and install the file via the Libertine gui available in the Systems Settings. Please note that because apps within Libertine containers are not hardware accelerated that Firefox-esr tends to run very slowly relative to the native Morph browser.

                    armhf
                    https://launchpad.net/~mozillateam/+archive/ubuntu/ppa/+build/21759468

                    arm64
                    https://launchpad.net/~mozillateam/+archive/ubuntu/ppa/+build/21759467

                    Best regards,
                    Steve Berson

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                    • G Offline
                      gdegrez @TotalSonic
                      last edited by

                      @totalsonic

                      Followed your instructions. Installation of firefox-esr-locale-fr-78.12.0esr+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 went all right, but firefox-esr does not appear in the apps window after rebooting nor on the output of ubuntu-app-launch-appids in a terminal window 😞
                      Thanks anyway

                      BQ Aquaris M10 FHD

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                      • G Offline
                        gdegrez @TotalSonic
                        last edited by

                        @totalsonic
                        Also, I installed Lubuntu Software Center as suggested in https://docs.ubports.com/en/latest/userguide/dailyuse/libertine.html but it doesn't work: in tablet mode (without BT KB+M), it just doesn't open the software KB, so searching for a package is impossible and in desktop mode, it doesn't find anything, actually, all listed categories seem to be empty.

                        Kind regards,

                        Gérard

                        BQ Aquaris M10 FHD

                        AppLeeA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • AppLeeA Offline
                          AppLee @gdegrez
                          last edited by

                          @gdegrez said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                          but it doesn't work: in tablet mode (without BT KB+M), it just doesn't open the software KB

                          That's a common issue with "so called legacy apps" the experience is not good because this use case was not considered by the developers.

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                          • dobeyD Offline
                            dobey @gdegrez
                            last edited by

                            @gdegrez said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                            I used to have the built-in 'puritine' container when I installed UBTouch a couple of years ago if I remember, and it remained there after upgrading at least until OTA-15, but it's indeed no longer there in OTA-18, there is now a built-in container called 'Desktop Applications'.
                            But that's irrelevant, what matters to me is that none of the desktop apps that I tried to install in the container of my own worked 😞 [I guess because the windowing protocol used by the Desktop apps is not supported by the OS/hardware].

                            OK. The "puritine" container was only something in the old Canonical images and only on the BQ M10 Ubuntu Edition tablets. There has never been any default container for legacy X11 apps on Ubuntu Touch from UBports.

                            And yes, libertine is quite an experimental feature, and there aren't enough people working on keeping things working properly when other parts of the system are updated, so which apps do or don't work in libertine containers can sometimes change.

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                            • Pulsar33P Offline
                              Pulsar33
                              last edited by

                              Libertine first experience on BQ E5 HR OTA-18 :
                              Installed ok so far : gnome-system-monitor, hardinfo, pcmanfm, lxterminal, gcc, build-essential, gedit
                              Many other SW tested but not ok or bad experience (I can publish the list and comments if you want)

                              SW already installed are suffisant for compiling my own code and HelloWorld example is ok
                              I will come back about compiling later.

                              At this time, my main problem is the following :
                              UBTouch is configured for French langage with virtual keyboard French and Emoji.
                              The virtual keyboard works for UBTouch AND for Libertine Apps BUT the keyboard doesn't move the display when it opens.
                              So it is underlaying the terminal line (or other MMI parts) and you have to type blindly.

                              Moreover, an external (bluetooth) keyboard is better for programming activities and fortunately, I have one.
                              It works fine with UBTouch application provided that you configure "External keyboard" French in Langage preferences
                              BUT at the same time, it remains in English layout for Libertine applications (see picture)

                              Does anyone know what to do to solve this please ?
                              BR
                              Pulsar33
                              LibertineExternalKeyboardKO.jpg

                              Aquaris BQ E5 HD UBports OTA-25 (currently testing features)
                              Aquaris BQ E5 HD Ubuntu Edition Canonical OTA-15 (last Canonical version, daily use)
                              Raspberry Pi 4 B - 4 GB & 8 GB with various OS and Desktops (UBports not OK)

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                              • dobeyD Offline
                                dobey @Pulsar33
                                last edited by

                                @pulsar33 said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                                Does anyone know what to do to solve this please ?

                                Sounds like an issue, which would be good to report at https://gitlab.com/ubports/core/libertine/-/issues

                                Pulsar33P 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • Pulsar33P Offline
                                  Pulsar33 @dobey
                                  last edited by

                                  @dobey Thank you
                                  Done : https://gitlab.com/ubports/core/libertine/-/issues/113
                                  BR
                                  Pulsar33

                                  Aquaris BQ E5 HD UBports OTA-25 (currently testing features)
                                  Aquaris BQ E5 HD Ubuntu Edition Canonical OTA-15 (last Canonical version, daily use)
                                  Raspberry Pi 4 B - 4 GB & 8 GB with various OS and Desktops (UBports not OK)

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                                  • Pulsar33P Offline
                                    Pulsar33
                                    last edited by Pulsar33

                                    Hello,
                                    I've been able to compile and link a personal code with gtk & xml libraries.

                                    However, the right part of the screen isn't responsive (issue #13) and widget to minimize, extend and close the windows are not available at all, even for popups :o(

                                    Without solving these bugs, it will remain difficult to have a good experience with desktop applications.

                                    I'm also facing another problem :
                                    dpkg -s libgtk-3-dev | grep Version => Libertine: 3.18.9-lunbuntu3.3 au lieu de Mint 19.3: 3.22.30-1ubuntu4
                                    The function gtk_menu_popup_at_pointer was introduced in GTK+ 3.22
                                    The function gtk_scrolled_window_set_max_content_height was introduced in GTK+ 3.22

                                    Do you know when the GTK version will be upgraded ?

                                    Have a nice day
                                    Pulsar33

                                    screenshot20210909_130249741.png

                                    Aquaris BQ E5 HD UBports OTA-25 (currently testing features)
                                    Aquaris BQ E5 HD Ubuntu Edition Canonical OTA-15 (last Canonical version, daily use)
                                    Raspberry Pi 4 B - 4 GB & 8 GB with various OS and Desktops (UBports not OK)

                                    dobeyD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • dobeyD Offline
                                      dobey @Pulsar33
                                      last edited by

                                      @pulsar33 said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                                      Do you know when the GTK version will be upgraded ?

                                      We will not be maintaining GTK+ packages ourselves. What is available in Libertine is what is in the Ubuntu 16.04 archives. If you need a newer/different GTK+ version, then you should build it yourself. When 20.04 based images are available and Libertine is working there, then you'll be able to use whatever is in the 20.04 repos.

                                      In the future, flatpak support may be added as well however, which may solve this specific issue, as any flatpak app could depend on a specific runtime for the version of GTK+ or GNOME libs needed, for example.

                                      However, when specifically any of these things may happen is not set in stone.

                                      Pulsar33P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • Pulsar33P Offline
                                        Pulsar33 @dobey
                                        last edited by

                                        @dobey : Thank you once more for your answer.
                                        Ok, I will live with(out) it :beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes:
                                        BR
                                        Pulsar33

                                        Aquaris BQ E5 HD UBports OTA-25 (currently testing features)
                                        Aquaris BQ E5 HD Ubuntu Edition Canonical OTA-15 (last Canonical version, daily use)
                                        Raspberry Pi 4 B - 4 GB & 8 GB with various OS and Desktops (UBports not OK)

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                                        • Pulsar33P Offline
                                          Pulsar33
                                          last edited by Pulsar33

                                          Same application more "convergence friendly" and in Windowed Mode
                                          Nice day to all
                                          Pulsar33

                                          screenshot20210913_085539853.png

                                          Aquaris BQ E5 HD UBports OTA-25 (currently testing features)
                                          Aquaris BQ E5 HD Ubuntu Edition Canonical OTA-15 (last Canonical version, daily use)
                                          Raspberry Pi 4 B - 4 GB & 8 GB with various OS and Desktops (UBports not OK)

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                                          • Pulsar33P Offline
                                            Pulsar33 @dobey
                                            last edited by

                                            @dobey said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                                            @pulsar33 said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                                            Does anyone know what to do to solve this please ?

                                            Sounds like an issue, which would be good to report at https://gitlab.com/ubports/core/libertine/-/issues

                                            @pulsar33 said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                                            @dobey Thank you
                                            Done : https://gitlab.com/ubports/core/libertine/-/issues/113
                                            BR
                                            Pulsar33

                                            As far as I see, nobody is assigned to the 17 issues opened (the oldest is 3 years old). Can someone tell something about that situation ?

                                            BR
                                            Pulsar33

                                            Aquaris BQ E5 HD UBports OTA-25 (currently testing features)
                                            Aquaris BQ E5 HD Ubuntu Edition Canonical OTA-15 (last Canonical version, daily use)
                                            Raspberry Pi 4 B - 4 GB & 8 GB with various OS and Desktops (UBports not OK)

                                            dobeyD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • dobeyD Offline
                                              dobey @Pulsar33
                                              last edited by

                                              @pulsar33 said in Running desktop applications on UBTouch:

                                              Can someone tell something about that situation ?

                                              Libertine is not a current focus for core devs. It is an experimental feature still. Anyone is welcome to volunteer to solve specific issues, and make merge requests, but issues in Libertine probably won't be a focus for the core team for a long time, unless donations to UBports Foundation greatly improve, so that the foundation can contract someone to focus on it specifically.

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